Second Chance
by alexhappydance
Summary: Severus and Lily stay in contact after Hogwarts, and Lily tries to get James and Severus to start over. Both men are willing to give each other a second chance for Lily's sake. Can it work out? And will Severus be able help James and Lily when Voldemort comes for them? Set in 1979. *Just want to note that this is my first fanfic*
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Severus Snape tore open the letter and read it aloud to himself: 'Hey Sev. James and I have set the date for our wedding. I was hoping you would come. I know you and James never got on, but he is sorry for the way he treated you and is willing to start over. Please give him a chance Sev, he really is a nice guy, he was just going through a phase. Anyway, the wedding is on the 7th of June. I hope you will come. Lily.'

Severus put the letter down on the table and paced around his mothers, now his, dining room, thinking the contents of Lily's letter over. _So, _he thought, _Potter feels sorry about all the bullying does he? I really doubt that. Although, he was civil to me last time I visited Lily… I suppose it can't hurt to try… And at least this way I'll get to see Lily more often…_ With that decided, Severus rushed upstairs to his study to write a response to Lily, saying that he would come to her wedding and that he thought it would be nice if they all met up beforehand. He sealed the letter and gave it to his owl. All he could do now was wait.

* * *

3 days later Severus still hadn't received a reply from Lily. He tried telling himself that Lily was just busy with preparations for the wedding, but to be honest he was worried. Not for her life. Severus had spent 7 years at school with Lily. He knew she could take care of herself. No, he was worried that James had changed his mind about starting over, that Lily was trying to find the nicest way to tell Severus that they couldn't be friends after all. In an attempt to calm his thoughts, Severus stalked out of his house and walked down to the park where he first saw Lily. He often went there when he wanted to clear his head, or escape from everything that was happening. Even at 18, the place still offered him some comfort.

Severus had just sat down on the grass beside a tree when his owl landed next to him. It was holding a letter in its beak. Feeling a flutter of nerves in his stomach, he took the letter from his owl and opened it.

'Hey Sev,' Lily had written, 'I'm so glad you can come! And yes, meeting up beforehand sounds like a great idea. How about at the Leaky Cauldron on Sunday at lunch time? Let me know if that is alright with you as soon as possible. Lily'

_Sunday, _Severus thought, _that's 4 days away._ _I can make it to London by then._

He got up off the grass and walked slowly home, pausing along the way to make sure his owl was following him.

When he got home he wrote a quick reply to Lily saying that Sunday was fine, and then started packing the things he would need to go to London. He had decided to leave right away to make sure he got a room in the Leaky Cauldron, and also because he hadn't been to Diagon Alley for a long time and he would like the chance to look around again.

* * *

The next day Severus wandered down from his room at the Leaky Cauldron and headed into Diagon Alley. He first went into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to buy some new robes because his current ones were getting a bit shabby. Once he had finished with that, he just wandered up and down Diagon Alley looking into shop windows.

By the middle of the day, Severus was starting to feel a bit peckish but he didnt really feel like a proper meal. He ended up going to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour for an ice cream. While he was sitting there, slowly eating his ice cream, he reflected yet again on how glad he was he had managed to make it up to Lily for the mudblood incedent in their 5th year at Hogwarts. That was the only reason they were still friends.

When Severus finished his ice cream, he got up and headed down to Obscurus Books and bought himself something to read, then headed back to his room in the Leaky Cauldron for the afternoon.

* * *

The next two days went by in pretty much the same way, window shopping and eating ice cream and maybe buying a book. Severus had mixed feelings about how fast the days were passing. On the one hand he was looking forward to seeing Lily again. On the other hand he was very nervous about seeing James.

On Sunday morning, Severus woke up feeling slightly nervous about what would happen with James. 7 years of bullying will do that to you. He also felt the old hate starting to rise up. He tried to push it back down. He didn't want to be the one who ruined this for Lily.

Severus decided to stay in his room all morning, getting his breakfast brought up to him and reading his latest book purchase to try and calm his nerves. It didn't work, so when he went down to the pub at lunch, he felt just as bad as he had when he woke up. He had just reached the bottom of the stairs when he heard a voice call his name. He looked around and spotted Lily waving at him from a table along one edge of the room, James sitting next to her. He took a deep breath and headed over to them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Hey," said Severus as he sat down across from Lily.

"Hey Sev," she replied. "Its been a while."

"Yeah," Severus said, nodding and feeling rather awkward.

They all sat there in silence for a couple of minutes until Lily jumped up to get them all a butterbeer. While she was at the counter, James cleared his throat and started speaking.

"Look, Severus, I am genuinley sorry about the things I did to you at Hogwarts. I was young, stupid, bored, and didn't know better. And I know I can't take it back, but I can tell you that I am very sorry."

Severus nodded once, stiffly, and looked away. Not because he didn't accept James's apology, he did, but because he didn't know what to say now. How do you start to become friends with someone after 7 years of hate? He glanced up at James and saw that he looked as awkward as Severus felt. He was just about to say something, although he didn't know what, when Lily returned with the butterbeers. They all drank in silence.

After a long pause, Lily started filling in Severus on details of the wedding.

"Its not going to be a big, fancy, expensive wedding. We just want something simple with friends and family. We're having it in the London botanical gardens."

"Sounds nice," Severus said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say because he had no experience with weddings or wedding plans. Lily seemed to realise this because she abruptly changed the subject.

"So what about you, Sev? Have you met anyone?" she asked. Severus shook his head.

They lapsed into silence again. Severus tried desperately to think of something to say, to lighten the mood a bit. He came up with nothing so he just sat there and stared at his glass.

After a few minutes Lily spoke again. "Well, we had better be off," she said, getting to her feet. "It was nice to see you again Sev. We should meet up again before the wedding." She paused for a second, then added, "I also think you and James should meet up without me before the wedding, get to know each other a bit more." Severus thought about this for a second, then nodded.

"Yeah, okay," he said.

James agreed too and promised to send an owl soon about where and when they should meet. With all that settled, Lily and James said goodbye and left. Severus went back up to his room and thought over the events of the day. _It didn't go too badly,_ he thought, _ but then it didn't go great either. I guess I'll just have to try harder next time I see Potter. I **will** make this work. I **won't **lose my best friend._

Severus left the Leaky Cauldron before dinner and headed back home.

* * *

"Hey Snape, over here!" Severus looked in the direction of the voice and spotted James. He walked over to where James was sitting and sat down opposite him and looking around. They were in a cafe just round the corner from Severus's house. He had never noticed it before.

"Hi," said Severus, trying his hardest to sound polite and friendly. Sitting here, face to face with the person who had bullied him all through Hogwarts, he felt all the hate rushing back to him. He tried his hardest to push it down. _Stop it,_ he told himself, _Potter apologised __and he was sincere and you accepted his apology. _They sat in silence for a minute, then Severus, remembering his resolution from last time, said "How's it going?"

"Not too bad," said James, looking surprised but pleased that Severus had tried to start conversation. "The wedding planning is a bit stressful though. How are things going with you?"

"Alright," said Severus. "I just got a job at the Ministry, finally. I've been trying since we left Hogwarts nearly a year ago."

"Really?" James asked, sounding interested. "I got a job there pretty much straight away. I wonder why it took so long for you."

"Its because you-know-who is so powerful now and everyone is scared. They have all started being suspicious of anyone from Slytherin because that was the house he was in." Severus informed him.

"Thats rubbish!" James exclaimed. "Not every single wizard in Slytherin is bad."

"Yeah, but try telling that to the entire wizarding community," Severus replied. "Even though it is very inconvenient for me, I can kind of understand why they are doing it. People would never know if they were facing an undercover Death Eater, they don't know who to be suspicious of, so they have just decided to be suspicious of everyone from my house. It gives them _someone_ to avoid, which makes them feel better."

"In a way that kind of makes sense," James said. "It's still rubbish though. How did you manage to get your job in the end?"

"I had to go through quite a few background checks, had people tailing me for months to make sure I didn't go and meet up with you-know-who. Tons of interviews. It was quite annoying but it paid off in the end. Well, a bit," Severus replied.

"So what department are you working in?" James asked.

Severus grimaced. "Magical Maintenance," he replied.

"What? After all those background checks and stuff you only get into Magical Maintenance? Thats rubbish!" James exclaimed.

"That's life, I guess. At least this way I can work my way up the ranks," Severus replied.

James smiled at him and he smiled back, happy that he and James were starting to get over their previous enmity. Suddenly a _ping!_ noise came from James's pocket. He pulled out a watch and examined it briefly before putting it away and standing up. Severus stood up a second later, wondering what was about to happen.

"Gotta go, sorry. Got some wedding planning appointment with Lily. I don't know why she wants me there. I'm no help at all. I can't even remember what the last on was about. Anyway, I guess I'll see you at the wedding, or maybe before," James said, extending his hand.

Severus shook it. "Yeah, see you."

James turned and walked out of the cafe. Severus stood there for a second, feeling a bit shocked at how well the meeting had gone. Then he too walked out of the cafe and headed home.


End file.
